Would the Church baptize aliens if they come to Earth?

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Your being an Atheist poses the possibility that you are poking fun of this Forum. If by chance you have actually witnessed a UFO let’s report that to the proper authorities. Once we have resolved that issue then, and only then should we worry about their religion.
 
I was just applying your own paradigm to limn your inconsistent application of “proof”.
No, you really were not. But apparently because you do not understand my paradigm, for reasons that escape me. I’m trying to think how to paraphrase it.
As it stands currently, you are demonstrating a shockingly illogical, inconsistent position.
You not understanding it does not mean that it is “a shockingly illogical, inconsistent position”
You doubt God exists, as there is no proof.
Yet…you entertain the possibility that intelligent alien life exists,** even when there is no proof.**
You are still confusing doubt and the positive assertion that something does not exist. I both doubt God exists and entertain the possibility that God exists, and likewise for alien life.

However I know for certain that alien life is possible, and have good reason to believe that it is likely.

I do not know that God, as described by many here, is even possible, let alone likely - for example we have absolutely no evidence of sentience existing without a physical body.
Puzzling. And curious. Very curious to me.
And yet so so simple. 🤷
 
And yet so so simple. 🤷
Indeed.

Your paradigm is this: I believe it is possible to exist and I entertain the possibility that it exists, even if there is no evidence for its existence.

Wait–no. That’s your paradigm where "it’ = “intelligent alien life”.

But for some mysterious reason when “it” = God, your paradigm is: I don’t believe it exists.

Curious, that.

So simple. And yet so inexplicably applied inconsistently.
 
That would indeed be compelling, if we could find no answer to what these strange aircraft are.

But why have none of these aircraft crashed?

Also, could you please provide the info that I asked for earlier? You alluded to the US govt engaging in secrecy in covering up evidence for intelligent life. But certainly all other govts do not have the same secrecy demand and may be quite transparent.

Can you please give us some info from other nations that demonstrate proof of intelligent extraterrestrials?
I will find some info for you within today and tomorrow. In one post, I believe you said youve looked over many FOIA documents, and still did not find anything that leads you to believe anything is going on…am I correct? You do not find it strange there is the amount of these documents regarding UFOs/ aliens to suggest ‘something’ is indeed going on? If there was truly nothing to it, I doubt there would be as many documents that mention the topic, or the number of ‘blacked out’ information on such documents.

Another stubborn question is, if Roswell was truly just an experimental weather balloon, why are some of the details still classified to this day?

One of the major things that made me believe there was something going on within our Govt is the early 90s investigation into this, requested by senator Byrd, and done by national security adviser, Dick Damato…They found a ‘black arm’ of the federal govt that is involved in keeping this topic secret and has access to unlimited funds to fund this agenda. these people involved were literally above the law in many regards. Add to this the MANY MANY quotes and statements concerning this topic by very powerful people. I do have a list of these that is very good, I will post it here shortly. If there was nothing to it, why are all these people talking and making statements about it?
 
Indeed.

Your paradigm is this: I believe it is possible to exist and I entertain the possibility that it exists, even if there is no evidence for its existence.

Wait–no. That’s your paradigm where "it’ = “intelligent alien life”.

But for some mysterious reason when “it” = God, your paradigm is: I don’t believe it exists.

Curious, that.

So simple. And yet so inexplicably applied inconsistently.
👍 Neat!
 
Your paradigm is this:
No it isn’t. Really, after all this, you still do not understand such a simple point? 🤷

My ‘paradigm’, as you call it, is the same for both propositions. It is applied equally, the only differences coming from the fact that alien life is proven to be possible, by our existence, and has good arguments that it is likely, whereas the God hypothesis is neither. All ‘in my opinion’, of course.

You persist in confusing evidence and proof, doubt and certainty of nonexistence. As far as doubt goes, I am starting to doubt your sincerity.

Try it this way: I see it as a spectrum of certainty, from certain to exist to certain to not only not exist but also not be capable of existence:

  1. *]Proven to exist. Obviously (I sincerely hope) worth considering its existence
    *]Proven to be possible that it exists, but not actually proven to exist. Surely worth considering its existence.
    *]May exist, but neither existence nor possibility proven. May well be worth considering its existence, depending on probabilities.
    *]Proven not to exist or even proven not to be possible. Not worth considering its existence. Except as a hypothetical exercise, and CAF seems to be oddly belligerent towards those.

    Alien life falls into category 2, God into category 3 or 4 depending on definition.

    Do you understand yet?

    On the other hand you do apply your ‘paradigm’ inconsistently unless you claim to have both proof that God does exist and that alien life does not.

    So:
    Evidence for the existence of intelligent alien life, please!
    I have not asserted the existence of intelligent alien life, only its possibility and probability. Since you are asserting that we should not consider the possibility of alien life, yet should assume the existence of God:
    Evidence for the nonexistence of intelligent alien life, please!
    And while we are at it:
    Proof for the existence of God, please!
 
PRmerger: I asked for evidence for intelligent alien life.
Good Evening PR Merger: It was not my intent to prove the existence of intelligent alien life, but only to point out the likelihood of it.
The former is really the only compelling argument. The latter is nonsensical. There is nothing that has been observed which tells us of intelligent alien life
.

If we are going to have a discussion, it isn’t helpful or productive to say that something is nonsensical without offering the reasoning behind your conclusion that it is nonsensical. What is nonsensical about fractals pointing to base patterns of repetition throughout all levels of creation adding to the likelihood of the similar outcomes elsewhere in the cosmos? You have offered the idea that it’s nonsense, but you haven’t explained why it’s nonsense.
As for the former, that “the universe is really, really, big, so it means that there has to be intelligent life on some other planet!” is fine to speculate on. But I wouldn’t bet my money until we have something more…scientific, empirical and logical to convince me.
The emergence of conscious sentient life is a mystery, as is the Big Bang or any other theory about how anything came to be. What is clear is that while the universe likes novelty, it builds novelty and diversity out of common building blocks that are existent everywhere, and the basic template is observable and replicated in every outcome, no matter how diversely these outcomes present themselves. The same elements and compounds that exist on earth exist elsewhere. What produces one outcome as opposed to another is environment, and similar environments produce similar reactions to elements everywhere. If plants and animals developed on earth, they are likely to so the same on planets, moons and other bodies with environments similar to earth. Of course, how consciousness interacts with sentient life is perhaps another thing altogether. For instance, is a biological body necessary, for consciousness to exist? I don’t think we know that for certain. Therefore, I would be interested not only in finding life on other planets, I would be interested in finding consciousness there, and I wonder what it would look like and how it experiences the world around it.
 
I have not asserted the existence of intelligent alien life, only its possibility and probability.
So, you believe in the possibility without any evidence.

Interesting. Very.

:hmmm:

Oh, how droll I find it playing the atheist to the atheists!

😃
 
As far as doubt goes, I am starting to doubt your sincerity.
Be careful, Dr. Taffy.

Did you know that it is against forum rules to doubt the sincerity of anyone’s beliefs here?

It would be a shame for you to be banned, for it is good for you to be here and in discourse with knowledgeable Catholics.

It is clear that you have not been accustomed to having your dogmas challenged. As such, please continue to dialogue with folks who can provide apologia for the hope that is in us. (1 Pet 3:15).

But please remember to observe the forum rules.

To wit:
Originally posted by CAFs: It is never acceptable to question the sincerity of an individual’s beliefs
 
But that is begging the question, isn’t it, friend?
I don’t really see how postulating on the likelihood of something necessitates presenting irrefutable proof. I simply detailed how it is that I think it’s likely, to wit you said what I offered was nonsense, however, you didn’t explain how it was nonsense. I then asked if you would explain your reasoning on how what I proposed was nonsense, and to that end, I am still asking you to explain that if you would. What is the flaw in the logic that the observable world is fractal in nature, expressed as repeating patterns producing novelty and diversity that is nonetheless rooted in an original or primary design or pattern than can be seen in all subsequent permutations? That is some of the reasoning by which I speculate that life likely exists elsewhere, so the question back to you is to explain how that is nonsense.

Thanks,
Gary
 
I don’t really see how postulating on the** likelihood** of something necessitates presenting irrefutable proof.
That it is possible to have intelligent alien life is quite different in quantity and quality than stating that it is likely that there is intelligent alien life

Of the former, I say: sure. 🤷
Of the latter, I say: show me the proof. Show me the evidence. Show me where. Show me how. Show me why.

Reasoning that “It’s a really, really big universe out there” is just not…

well, just not a very compelling nor convincing argument to me.
 
Here are a couple credible lists, the second is VERY good, and I found if after reading this, you still do not believe, then there is some other problem!

unexplainedmysteriesoftheworld.com/archives/famous-ufo-quotes-by-presidents-politicians-military-officers-and-astronauts

dailypaul.com/144096/governments-and-officials-admitting-aliens-are-real
Mike, the first link I clicked on said this: “We couldn’t find that page”
vimeo.com/11481878

Regarding the second link citing Dr. Edgar Mitchell, I found this, where he refutes the claim that he says that NASA covered up contact with aliens:

LB: The interviews are quoted as saying that you say sources at NASA who had contact with aliens…

EM: That is totally false.
 
Try it this way: I see it as a spectrum of certainty, from certain to exist to certain to not only not exist but also not be capable of existence:

  1. *]Proven to exist. Obviously (I sincerely hope) worth considering its existence
    *]Proven to be possible that it exists, but not actually proven to exist. Surely worth considering its existence.
    *]May exist, but neither existence nor possibility proven. May well be worth considering its existence, depending on probabilities.
    *]Proven not to exist or even proven not to be possible. Not worth considering its existence. Except as a hypothetical exercise, and CAF seems to be oddly belligerent towards those.

    Alien life falls into category 2, God into category 3 or 4 depending on definition.

  1. This “spectrum of certainty” is an arbitrary assignation that you have applied, Dr. Taffy.

    As such, I could say that God falls into category 2 and intelligent alien life falls into category 3 or 4.

    Regardless, the point remains: you have not a single shred of scientific proof or evidence for the existence of intelligent alien life, yet you, peculiarly, are not an atheist about their existence.

    Apply your demand for proof with equity. That would be the consistent and logical approach.
 
That it is possible to have intelligent alien life is quite different in quantity and quality than stating that it is likely that there is intelligent alien life

Of the former, I say: sure. 🤷
Of the latter, I say: show me the proof. Show me the evidence. Show me where. Show me how. Show me why.

Reasoning that “It’s a really, really big universe out there” is just not…

well, just not a very compelling nor convincing argument to me.
Good Evening PR Merger: I cited a good deal more than the fact that the universe is large. What I offered was what I judge to be a rather sensible assessment of the probabilities based on observable behavior in nature. Repeating patterns in creation are seen throughout the world we live in, as well as in the observable universe. You continually ask for evidence of the probability or likelihood of life on other planets and I have pointed out what I feel to be substantial evidence in things we can plainly see, namely, nature. To simply say that it is not a sound argument for a high probability is not a counterpoint, nor does it suggest any evidence to the contrary in direct relation to the points I have raised. The way to refute an idea is to discredit the assertion either with logic that opposes the point or to show how the logic is flawed. This is what you would need to do in order to put these ideas to rest. So again I ask, how is the logic I have offered flawed?

In the meantime, the point of the thread was to consider whether aliens would be baptized if we were to encounter them. I suspect that God has a relationship with all life in all places where life might exist, and would be known in forms familiar to them as He is known in forms familiar to us. There would be no need to baptize alien life in the name of a primate incarnation of God in a place where there are no primates, or possibly much higher forms of life than we are currently able to comprehend.
 
Good Evening PR Merger: I cited a good deal more than the fact that the universe is large. What I offered was what I judge to be a rather sensible assessment of the probabilities based on observable behavior in nature. Repeating patterns in creation are seen throughout the world we live in, as well as in the observable universe. You continually ask for evidence of the probability or likelihood of life on other planets and I have pointed out what I feel to be substantial evidence in things we can plainly see, namely, nature. To simply say that it is not a sound argument for a high probability is not a counterpoint, nor does it suggest any evidence to the contrary in direct relation to the points I have raised. The way to refute an idea is to discredit the assertion either with logic that opposes the point or to show how the logic is flawed. This is what you would need to do in order to put these ideas to rest. So again I ask, how is the logic I have offered flawed?
It is not flawed, necessarily. It is simply conjecture. And the “likelihood” part is where you make a huge leap.

As I said, it’s **possible **that there is intelligent alien life. God could create as many universes with as many lives as He desires.

I am simply saying: I don’t believe they exist until I have evidence for their existence.

(Also, you noted “practical observation” has led you to know that there is intelligent alien life. What is this “practical observation”?)
 
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